‘Measles mostly sporadic, outbreak in some places’
Post COVID pandemic, the state public health department has geared itself for tackling outbreak of measles in some parts of the state. Helming the affairs is principal secretary of health, Sanjay Khandare.
He spoke to Hindustan Times on the measures being taken to control the outbreak which has left 18 children dead so far in the state.
Which are the areas in state where measles in spreading and what is the cause?
Mostly, the incidents are sporadic, while outbreaks in some places. Measles vaccination may have been affected due to the pandemic which may have led to outbreaks this year. There have been incidents of outbreaks, especially in areas of BMC like M East ward, Bhiwandi, Malegaon, Aurangabad and Pimpri Chinchwad. There are 15 pockets in state where 100 plus cases have been reported.
What are the challenges in immunisation programme for measles?
There are no challenges as such. We had conducted intense vaccination programme for measles in 2018.
The only issue here to overcome is gap between expected vaccination and actual vaccination and this is mainly in corporation areas (urban areas). Because of Covid, agencies may not have been able to do carry out vaccination. There is some resistance in certain areas where parents are refusing vaccination.
The measles special vaccination drive isn’t as big or large as the Covid vaccination drive, but it will need
All the machinery was focused on treating Covid. There was support from many other agencies.
Here too, we have roped in departments like women and child, minorities welfare and education, urban development and asked them to provide us with resources. We have also asked all municipal corporation areas, divisional commissioners to help us.
How many children will need the extra vaccine?
After the outbreak, the union government issued guidelines. Additional vaccine is to given to all children up to five years. Since there are some cases where we found children in age group of 6 months to 9 months, we may have to give dose to them.
The outbreaks have exposed that there are pockets with poor vaccination. Refusals are high. Is there any long-term plan to change this?
We have started a campaign for vaccination and increased surveillance. Where ever there is resistance, we are engaging services of influencers, maulvis, religious leaders, political leaders and corporators. Our target is to counsel them and convince them.
Have you set up centres for specialised treatment of measles, like we had hospitals for COVID?
BMC has set up a ward at Kasturba hospital in Chinchpokli. Besides BMC, state’s existing health facilities are being used. Admissions for measles are less.
How many children are suffering from measles in state, including Mumbai?
As per our data compiled on Tuesday night, we had 13248 suspected cases and 800 plus positive cases.
The centre had sent a team and given guidelines to state and the BMC. Are they being followed?
Yes. They had given guidelines and we have increased surveillance and vaccination. We have also identified malnourished children and taking more care of them.